Jerry Muller’s work reminds us that learning outcomes assessment is but one facet of a broader effort to track, quantify and surveil production and performance. His work looks at everything from police record keeping to the performance of hospitals to course assessement.
So it should come as no surprise that universities that are embracing the culture of accountability not just with respect to learning but faculty productivity too. The best response to this I have seen so far is this new poem by Susan Harlan. This now officially makes her my favorite living poet.
A POEM ABOUT YOUR UNIVERSITY’S NEW AND TOTALLY NOT TIME-WASTING REVIEW PROCESS FOR TENURE AND PROMOTION